Honesty With A Whole Lot Of Forgiveness Thrown In
by sctwilightvampwolfgal
Summary: Ladybug did not factor in revealing her identity to Lila, her new budding friendship with a sprinkle of something more pouring in at the edges, it felt as if it would shatter whatever they had, right at the edges, but then again, some things, even a hero didn't have control of. *Deanon from The Small Fandom Kink Meme.*


Forgiveness was not stamped with a famous logo or always easily understood.

Marinette had always believed in second chances before though with some people and overwhelmingly strong causes for concern, she'd had to find a way to somehow let that person back in to a safe place in her heart.

She hadn't found it particularly easy to handle befriending Lila or rather having Lila befriend her anyway when she'd easily seen through many of her past lies; it was hard to choose to do right sometimes.

Naturally, Marinette forgave her, felt as if she should, and naturally, her duty as Ladybug after the appropriate scolding of falling out of line with her past behavior towards Lila and Volpina, she'd realized her mistake and when Lila had reached out for her friendship, gave it to her, wary as she was.

Eventually, it became easier and easier to see through old lies and unravel the woman hidden underneath; slowly, she'd came to find a real friend in her and encourage her not to lie so much.

Lila Rossi after all didn't need lies to make people interested in being her friends; if only, she was as genuine and nice to others as she was to Marinette.

Despite her big attitude, she was a rather normal girl with a kind heart hidden and entangled past the lies that she'd woven throughout her time in Paris so far; she did love attention more than Marinette cared for, but that could be overlooked easily once you drew closer to her.

Talking to Lila often entailed not lying if it can be helped to further avoid the dangers of falling into a pit of lies or encouraging lies in general.

Marinette could not admit why being near Lila now felt far different than it used to feel; sometimes if Lila leaned just right against her side, ladybugs seemed to take flight in Marinette's stomach which had to have been just a random feeling, nothing more.

She'd found her interest piqued somehow by the previous Akuma victim that had rubbed her the wrong way when they'd first met, and Marinette couldn't figure out how to stop the sudden influx of affection on her part.

Marinette had reminded herself time and time again that Lila was not a fan of Ladybug in the least bit, had even actively stopped supporting her after being called out on her lies, and naturally, the young woman was not really interested in stopping from being the only civilian to actively dislike Ladybug any time soon.

Despite all of her reminders, there was still something there, growing in fledgling stages and startling Marinette out of her old reveries of wanting to be closer to Adrien; Lila was distracting in her own right yet Marinette couldn't quite blame the young girl for her feelings.

She certainly hadn't forced Marinette to start feeling a little funnier around her than normal, and she definitely didn't act as if she had an interest in Marinette or swung that way regardless.

Her only active pursuit had been Adrien and even that had slowed down over time; could Lila ever get over her hatred of Ladybug and start to see the heroine for who she is?

Marinette doubted her and while that probably wasn't fair or right to do so, she couldn't help but think that Lila Rossi would not dislike someone for barely any time at all; if she could stay consistent in lying, cling to the lies, shaping them into almost reality, illusions, than surely she wouldn't stop a grudge at the blink of an eye.

An identity reveal was a risk that Marinette wasn't willing to take especially when her feelings were so small as it were and when things could easily fall apart in her hands; she didn't need another Volpina running rampid and causing illusions mixed with chaos.

That's why, she'd never intended for it to happen, never wanted to lead it to becoming a side part of reality.

* * *

It had been a particularly taxing Akuma that even seemed to have Cat Noir's puns running a little on the short end.

As it was, Ladybug barely managed to get out of there in time, had to rush back to her house in a mad flurry to avoid being stuck on a random rooftop somewhere as she was too far in the city, on the complete other end of town in fact to simply make it home much quicker.

She was running on mere seconds when she dropped into her room from above, slightly breathless from the added stress and rush of hurrying home though not really worn out from the speed that she'd ran back at, and didn't register the soft gasp of her name, her superhero name, that echoed off of her bedroom walls or seemed to even though when it did sink it, she'd realize later that it was barely more than a whisper and only they'd heard it.

"Marinette?" The voice was softer, softer now than before, and it sounded nearly broken which killed a part of Marinette that never knew that Lila Rossi could ever sound anywhere near as broken as she did in the moment; she felt the irrational urge to pull the young woman closer and comfort her instead of leaving her to deal with this on her own.

"Lila?" She couldn't help but ask, muscles screaming from soreness as she shifted to give Lila her full attention, "I didn't realize that you were coming."

It wasn't uncommon for her parents to send her friends up whenever they dropped by to visit and yet on a school night with a million other things to do, a long drug on Akuma fight, no group projects to think of, Marinette hadn't so much as thought that any friend no matter how new would just drop by.

"May be you should be called the liar of the school." It was bitter, a reflection on to what she was sure, Lila was still dealing with from her extensive lying at the start of becoming a student at Marinette's school that really hadn't dwindled by much up to now.

"Please don't tell anyone." Marinette's heart stuttered in her chest and felt as if it had broke into a hundred million pieces in just a simple and quick moment.

"Why not? You pointed out my lies once you heard them." Lila's voice was harsh and cold, and Marinette realized that the queen of illusions, of lies, had just had her own trust shattered by a secret identity.

"Lila," Marinette took a deep breath, glancing over towards Tikki for guidance or encouragement, "Your lies were going to hurt others down the line especially if people came to believe them and saw them as true. Those lies likely would have even hurt those that you wouldn't really want to hurt regardless. I'm only lying to protect those that I love and care about."

"Don't you think that your lies hurt me?" Lila's voice broke straight to the point, and a part of Marinette withered at the thought.

"Yes, I'm sorry," Marinette took another deep steadying breath, feeling lost yet again with this situation, "But I did so to protect you. I don't want Hawkmoth to target you again or to target those that you trust and hurt you along the way."

"Still," Lila spoke up, seeming to regain a bit of her stolen confidence back though not all of it, "You should have told me. If you didn't want me to lie anymore, may be tell me the truth earlier to avoid all of this." Lila waved her arm around as if brushing an imaginary, dust storm to the side.

"Lila, I couldn't." Marinette watched her friend turned whatever they were in this moment, "Cat Noir doesn't even know who I am behind the mask."

Lila seemed to falter under that knowledge, "I would have thought that he'd have told you or you, him."

"We want to protect each other and our respective loved ones. If Cat knew, he could have easily accidentally given it up to Hawkmoth a long time ago, and vice versa in my case. If that happened, what would happen to my parents or Cat Noir's? Or our friends? If we fall in love: our significant others?" Marinette sighed, hating how insistent she'd often had to be with secret identities and the logic of keeping them; it was a whole other story to bring this up to Lila rather than Cat Noir or to mention it off hand in less specific tones to Alya.

"Okay," Lila still looked upset, and Marinette realized that that wouldn't just go away today, that trust would take time to be built back up again, "Just what does that make us?"

"Confidants. You will have to keep my secret and may be help me hide it a little better." Marinette only now let it sink in that the best liar that she knew now knew her secret; Lila could lie about being her confidant and easily turn her back on her or she could make it much easier to have more than half way decent lies to get away with sneaking off to fight Akuma or long running patrols or running late to school or a group project or anything else due to an untimely Akuma battle that seemed set to destroy her schedule.

"Confidants. I can manage that." Lila smiled slightly for the first time since discovering Ladybug's identity, and suddenly it felt like the world was tilted in about the right angle again.

"Thank you." Marinette breathed, nervous despite herself and that reassurance though significantly less so since Lila had agreed to help her out; trust had to be given before it can be received and earned before it can be taken away.

* * *

"She was helping me out with a project, Madame Bustier, during lunch and time flew by remarkably fast." Lila sent an innocent seeming smile to their teacher as Marinette returned to her seat with nerves bursting at the seams.

"For what class?" It seemed that she was a little worn out from the myriad of excuses that were often used to explain why Marinette was running late again.

"It's a personal project. She's teaching me how to knit, so that I can make a scarf for my grandmother." Lila's smile brightened, "Her birthday's coming up, and I wanted to do something extra special for her before she has to go back to Italy. It's a secret project though." Lila winked as if to let Madame Bustier in on a very important secret.

"Thank you." Marinette breathed after class, carefully moving toward Lila's side.

"Can you teach me how to knit to make it more believable?" Lila asked her with a faint smile, eager for another moment to spend time with her; it had been days since she'd found out the secret of Marinette's, and this was the first time that she'd ever lied for the budding designer as of now.

It had came to her attention that perhaps Ladybug didn't even hold a slight grudge against her anymore from her previous lies and that may be it had become a certain truth to say that she was best friends with Ladybug now though she wouldn't try it in fear of either being called a liar or losing Marinette when they were still trying to build up into that precipice of becoming something just a little bit more.

"I guess I can." Marinette shrugged, "It's the least I can do. You really saved me back there."

"Just repaying the favor for someone who was really saving the day." Lila shrugged though she knew the importance of nice words and flattery, had used it many a times while constructing lies and building herself up; she knew that words weren't just emotionless, meaningless things, they constructed a whole world on their shiny surface regardless.

"Don't be too loud," But Marinette was smiling, and Lila felt the first success in a while light across her stomach, scattering little, fox kits to play within her as if suddenly awoken from a lighthearted nap.

"I'll be as quiet and sneaky as a fox." Lila sends a brief wink Marinette's way and practically beams when she can see the beginnings of a new smile on the other girl's face and the slight dusting of a blush on her cheeks.

* * *

Lila always knew that being a good liar, constructing her words just right would get her somewhere, though she was positive that if she'd said it out loud that Marinette would have her head, knowing that she was Ladybug just added a whole new scary factor to the previously just adorable fashion designer.

She also knew despite that that she'd came to lie a lot less than before, seeing no point in lying about how great her life was when it was already dipping into a level of great that she previously had never expected, besides each unnecessary lie that she told was reprimanded with a few harsh words from Mari and a glare that reminded her vaguely of the way that Ladybug handled every Akuma victim with a ferocity that shouldn't be messed with.

It was hard to admit to herself that she was changing, becoming a little more genuine, a little more true to who she was, and definitely a little happier with her own self.

When she felt happy and comfortable without the lies, felt more than loved by those around her without having to tell a lie to keep them there, she found that lying became less of a gut instinct and more of a rarity.

Plus being truthful had led to this perfect moment, fingers intertwined with Marinette, fully knowing that these fingers were often masked under Ladybug's suit whenever she was needed, and that their gentle pressure was all that she needed to press back against the woman by her side.

It was worth every misjudgement, every ounce of guilt, every moment second guessing herself, and even all of the heartache to curl closer to Marinette's side and to feel her toes curl in a gentle flutter when finally the woman by her side leaned down and stole the first kiss of many.

Lila was well aware that being a superhero's girlfriend may take more out of her than she'd originally been willing to give and may mean a lot of changing plans on dates, a lot of moments where they'd be pulled apart by a supervillian, and yet she was willing to take that risk for her, for the hero that she'd come to dislike and yet was starting to fall in love with, for the girl that was encouraging her to just be a little something more.

Honesty and encouragement could go a long way when pushed forward, gingerly and gently, and misunderstanding never seemed to last forever.

Lila softly curled up against Marinette's side, feeling her eyes dip closed as she relaxed, and not minding at all the fact that none of this came easy or would prove to be easy in the future; Lila for once in her life was embracing change, not for a chance to reinvent her life and herself within it, but to embrace the bright possibility of an honest, genuine, and loving future.


End file.
